Is There Such A Thing? (humor)

I often take inventory of things I like to do and laugh. The book, "Do What You Love, And the Money Will Follow" seems to make perfect sense until you compile a list of what you love and wonder, "How on earth am I ever going to make a living doing *that*?"

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” (Albert Schweitzer)

So the other day, I made a silly mental list of what's on my enjoyment radar that coincides with what I'm good at. As the original title of my blog implies, sometimes I really do feel like I have too much of a good thing, because in some instances, this extra time has created a MONSTER. Animals, bargain hunting, red wine, good food, funny movies, really useful tech tips (GOOGLE VOICE!!) and recipe collecting (for things that sound delicious, though I usually end up not ever making them~I do have quite the collection though!) are just a few of my pastimes. And let's not forget my everpresent love of experimenting with all things cosmetic: skincare, specialty treatments and MAKEUP!!

Now let's take just a few of those and try to create my 'dream job.'

Take for example, comparison shopping. Now, I'm not one to spend 10 hours of my time to save $5, but to a certain extent, there is something to be said for due dilligence when it comes to saving money. I got the ultimate compliment yesterday from a fellow blogger, who referred to me as a "shopping ninja" for finding out that a shampoo that was on sale came with a "try it free" rebate. All I did was look beyond the middle shelf at the supermarket, to avoid the overpriced name brands they place in that prime real estate! It's a bonus that said shampoo happens to be paraben and sulfate free!

Then there's my last laptop purchase. Though now, my model is already obsolete, at the time I got a great deal by figuring out what configuration I wanted on the Dell website (which has so many traps for consumers to get you to think you're getting a deal, it's ridiculous) and seeing how much it would cost me. Then I looked around to see if I could find the same specs elsewhere and prided myself for not going for the instant gratification of clicking the "order it now" button. A week later, the exact model I had priced out was on sale for $649 at Best Buy, where going through Dell, it would have cost me $1020. Now THAT's a deal (my feelings on Dell a year and a half later I shall not comment upon)! So, career-wise let's call that 'saving people money.'

Then there's my love of socializing. I'm a true extrovert. Too bad you can't get paid for making small talk at social gatherings. My personality is very exuberant, so when I talk about things, my excitement for the subject matter comes through. So much so, that mid-way through a conversation about espresso, I once heard in response, "Wow, that sounds so delicious, I have to find some for myself. You've made me want to switch brands!" It happens all the time, with everything from lip gloss to cell phone providers, I just can't help it. At first I thought it was just that the product or service was so good, it sold itself. However, I learned something about myself recently that I didn't even know you could quantify.

The AMAZING career coach I met on LinkedIn was kind enough to offer me a DISC assessment for salespeople, and after I took it and he analyzed the results, I came up as an Influencer, with a score very close to the top of the chart. WOW. Talk about insight! While there were some talking points in the printed analysis that I felt were slightly off base, I felt it was 85% accurate and he explained that I should then take the results with 85% intake and that much salt! It truly was eye opening, and made perfect sense based on people's reactions all these years.

Having been in the business of aesthetics, in one form or another, for so long...I guess you could call my career path, 'the pursuit of making people feel better about themselves by helping them attain, or teaching them to fix, what they feel their physical flaws are.' I don't know how that happened, and I'm not shallow... there' s much more to people that what they look like. I don't judge people on looks. But, by the same token, I understand what it's like to have something that annoys you become the focus of your own attention, to the point where it affects your self esteem. Self esteem is so important to our survival and success, that if there's a way to help someone find or rediscover it, count me in!

So here's my perfect job: Something related to self esteem-boosting that involves feeling like I got a bargain, planning and throwing cocktail parties, promoting stuff, enjoying the challenge of closing a sale~~while laughing, and making a really good living doing it. Seriously, how perfect am I for a sales job selling ANYTHING that makes people feel good about themselves? It would totally allow me to be the social creature that I am. Like I said yesterday... at this point, I'll settle for 'good enough.' I don't need to save the world, but I want to do something that makes a difference, no matter how small. Needless to say, I'm still looking!